focus / Hannah Cashen

When my favorite government professor mentioned a future winter course in Cambodia to me last year, I listened excitedly about an opportunity I didn’t think I’d ever be able to pursue personally. But thanks to generous financial support and my ILR International Travel Grant, I was able to take this incredible class myself.

experience report / Colombia

In January 2015, I spent two weeks working with coffee producers in Colombia as part of the Cornell Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team (SMART). We worked with the Federación Campesina del Cauca (FCC), a not-for-profit organization that has over 700 coffee-producing associates. These coffee producers are all micro landowners whose main source of income is the production from their farms.

experience report / warwick

Exchange Student at Warwick, UK, Spring 2014

PackingWhat were the most useful things you packed, and what do you recommend to leave behind?
Pack rainboots and a raincoat! Also pack lots of layers--you'll be grateful when you have to spend weeks traveling on only one suitcase! Leave behind formal clothes.

experience report / austria

I did not know what to expect from either the Physical Theatre Lab or the Conference “Theatre Between Tradition and Contemporaneity” when I registered, however I hoped to learn as much as I could in the short week. I also hoped to make meaningful connections with performers from all over the globe, and to learn from their perspectives and experiences.

experience report / zambia

With the help of an Experience Grant through ILR’s International Programs Office I was afforded the opportunity to intern at Protea Hotels in Lusaka, Zambia for four weeks during my summer break. This was a great chance to apply what I had learned in the classroom at the ILR School and it would be my first opportunity to venture to a different continent with a rich culture and an incredible history dating back to the birth of mankind. When I arrived at Lusaka International Airport I was immediately greeted by my friend who would be hosting me for the next four weeks.

experience report / europe

Inspired by an admissions brochure’s feature on Randi Weingarten ’80, President of the American Federation of Teachers, I applied to the ILR School three years ago with the intent of merging my strong interest in education with the school’s focus on organizational behavior and unionism. The independent research project that I was able to conduct, thanks partially to my International Travel Grant, allowed me to closely analyze issues of privatization and unionism in public education.

experience report / india

During the 2011-12 Winter Intersession I was able to travel to New Delhi, India on an International Travel Grant from the ILR School. I spent my month in New Delhi working with the Centre for Development and Human Rights (CDHR), a not-for-profit research organization that focuses on promoting the Right to Development in India and across the world. Along with conducting research for CDHR, I was able to attend seminars, meet some of the leading activists of India, and explore the city of New Delhi.

experience report / dominican republic

When I reflect on the experience that was made possible for me by the International Travel Grant, I now understand how it was more than just an opportunity; it was a life transforming cultural immersion that has motivated me to travel, explore, and volunteer both internationally and locally on a regular basis. In the Dominican Republic, I was bombarded by everything except what was fed to me by American mediums about the beautiful Island.

experience report / tanzania

From becoming comfortable riding in a minivan with 30 people standing, eating beans and rice cooked by mama, watching a chicken being slaughtered and cooked, seeing herds of zebras and giraffes from only ten feet away, and forming intimate relationships with the people I've met, I can safely say that Moshi, Tanzania, or specifically KCMC Road, feels like my second home.

experience report / mexico

When you walk up and down the hallways of Ives Hall you will inevitably encounter the ILR adage, “advancing the world of work” emblazoned on a wall. This cri de coeur connects the most liberal ILRies with their most conservative classmates, as all of us want to advance the world of work, and ultimately will do so, because our connotations of “advancing” will all be manifested in different ways.

experience report / australia

Brooke & Glenn Grindlinger Award Report

UNSW, Sydney, Australia, Fall 2013

experience report / dominican republic

With the ILR International Travel Grant, I traveled to Santiago in the Dominican Republic. The purpose of my trip was to learn more about labor rights in the Dominican Republic and if these rights have developed since the passage of the Dominican Republic Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). This topic is the concentration of my honors thesis. In 10 days, I learned about the Dominican Labor Court system and the procedures that workers and employers must undergo when they have conflicts that they want to resolve.